Chiranjeevi briefing media. “India has been able to showcase its rich heritage to the world”

13 04 2013 Briefing media Union Minister of State for Tourism Dr.K.Chiranjeevi has said that UNWTO Commissions for South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, today has discussed the issue of development of UNWTO Convention for the protection of tourists and tourism service providers and implementation of Global Code of Ethics for Tourism.
Addressing at the Press Conference after the conference at Taj Falaknuma Palace, he said, the member countries has decided to exchange the best practices and strategies with each other for charting the future path for development of sustainable tourism.
Apprising about details of the conference, he said that “the two Commissions have discussed the priority areas of work to be undertaken in the year 2014-15. During this meeting, various bilateral meetings took place for developing intra-regional and inter-regional strategies.”
He has also said : “By hosting these two events, India has been able to showcase its rich heritage to the world. It has also been successful in communicating that India is a safe destination for the tourists. The delegates have been able to appreciate the excellent range of convention facilities that the city of Hyderabad has.”
In these two days events, delegates from 21 countries, 8 UNWTO affiliate members, 2 regional organizations and many industry organizations participated.
In the Conference on Sustainable Tourism, many eminent speakers addressed the gathering. After detailed deliberations, all members agreed that we all need to work together for the cause of sustainable tourism development.
He also stated that “India has shared with the delegates its vision for sustainable tourism development and criteria developed for accommodation and tour operators’ sectors.”
UNWTO has shared the concept of Global Observatories for Sustainable Tourism based on systematic application of monitoring, evaluation and information management techniques for promoting sustainable tourism.
The meeting identified Visa, Taxation and Connectivity as three important determinants for the growth of tourism.
Today in this 25th Meeting of the Joint Commissions the delegates shared the market trends of the region in the year 2012 and tourism prospects for the year 2013.
According to UNWTO, Asia and Pacific region will continue to grow at higher rate compared to rest of the world.
During the year 2012, Asia and the Pacific region saw the highest growth with a rate of over 7%. The sub-region of South East Asia recorded the maximum number of arrivals within these regions with a growth of 9%. You will all be happy to note that India was second in terms of international tourism receipts in the region in the year 2012. The Indian tourism growth of 5.4% in terms of foreign tourist arrivals was higher than the world average of 4%.
It was decided that the next Joint Meeting of the two Commissions will be held in Philippines and the 21st Session of General Assembly of UNWTO will be held in Cambodia.
Tourism Minister has thanked the State Government of Andhra Pradesh for co-hosting these events and making them a huge success.